Excerpt from The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Is that all?"

"The garden, when I'm caring for you—so we don't get under Mrs. B's feet. And more and more the Covered Market, 'cos of her cranky knees."

"Has Sunnyside always been your place?" I asked.

"Not always." She looked down at me, and I wondered where her smile had gone.

"Where did it used to be?"

She hesitated. "With me ma and all our littluns."

"What are littluns?"

"Children."

"Like me?"

"Like you, Essymay."

"Are they dead?"

"Just me ma. The littluns was taken away, I don't know where. They was too young for service."

Excerpted from The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. Copyright © 2021 by Pip Williams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.